Saturday, February 06, 2010

Alexander's Loot .

Synopsis:An estimated US$ 463 Billion in high-value loot (gold and jewels) still lies hidden between 61.5 degrees East , 25 degree North and 61.25 degrees East , 29.35 degree North . Near Gwatar Bay .See Appendix A for estimate .

Discussion :

Exuberance of Success:After looting the accumulated wealth of the Middle East , every Greek troopie was a millionaire . Accumulating at least 5-10 camp followers (including wives , concubines and children ) . Numerous auxillaries of dubious loyalty also attached . Estimate about 500 000 people .Of which about 50 000 were core Greek troops .

After the mutiny at Hydaspes , Alexander faced some hard strategic choices:1. He could not stay . His core forces were too small and getting increasingly corrupted .2. If he left with the whole train to Babylon , the economy of Babylon would collapse 3. What he needed was his Army purged and purified . With a disciplined Army he could always repair any problems by some killing and looting .4. He therefore did two things :4.1 March south to Pattala , where a fleet of more than100 ships were built under Nearchos . This ferried his personal share of treasure to Babylon .4.2 Announced that the army would march back through the Gedrosian Desert .Probably announced at Gwatar Bay .5. Two orders of Alexander that would not be obeyed :5.1 Abandon loot5.2 Abandon children and wives .6. So he did not try . An order his troops could not disobey was the route of the march . They were as aware as he was that they only existed on the momentum of previous conquests and the cohesion of the army . Forcing marching through the desert means that they would have to ditch the baggage train and hide most of the loot . He snookered them .7. These were the most accomplished looters in history . They really , really knew where to hide loot where not even they could find it .8. Unfortunately , about ¾ of them died on the march . So most of their loot was never found , even over 2 000 years .

Odysseus in Ithaca .Alexander miscalculated the effect of the Desert Crossing on his Greek troops . A triumphant house-cleansing by his re-invigorated and purged Greek warriors did not happen . (A-la-Odysseus in Ithaca)

A sullen and rebellious lot rocked up in Babylon , having lost all their loot and their wives and children . Facing larger numbers and richer locals .

It was a wonder Alexander lasted as long as he did .His personal treasure was there , but without an army to guard it , it was simply another temptation to his generals .

Hence " It was a mosquito that did it, your honor."

Long Term effects :One of the reasons for the extraordinary success of Egyptian and Middle-eastern civilizations were their great efficiency in recycling burial goods of gold , silver and gems . Grave robbers were , and are , integrated into the economy . (Cf Scythian and Celtic , which did not have grave robbers and were at a severe economic disadvantage.)

The loss of such a large accumulated surplus represented by the Alexandrian Army's loot impoverished the Middle East for centuries . It played a large role in success of Roman arms .See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Whatever happened to Nomads?" . There was not enough portable currency to hire enough mercenary troops . (ie Nomads)

The ripple effects are still discernable .

Do you feel lucky ?You know where to look .

It was never Alexander's intention to impoverish the local regions and render them vulnerable to nomad mercenaries .

Let S= average surplus per person in the Middle East per year circa 300-1300 BCE .Let Tax= 1/3 * S be average tax per year.Let a third be retained as reserve .Reserve= 1/9 *SAccumulate this over 50 million people over 1000 years .Reserve = 50*10^6 *10^3 *1/9 * SReserve = 5/9 * 10^10 *S